Kamen Rider Sol
by firebyte27
Summary: In the year 2513 A.D, earth has colonised all of the planets in it's native solar system, and established itself as a powerful member of the intergalactic community. It is now home to many races, including alternian trolls, Velzakians, among many others. However, a mysterious race wishes to conquer earth, and it's up to a new generation of riders to stop them.
1. Chapter 1: Awaken: kamen rider Sol

One day a girl named Max woke up with absolutely no memory of her past life. She woke up in a pitch black room scared for her life with no idea where she was. Suddenly, the lights snapped on, and she squinted as the room was flooded with a blinding white glare. As her eyes adjusted to his surroundings, she heard the faint voice of someone muttering.

She then heard a voice say, "hey who's the kid on the table? The boss didn't tell us there'd be a kid here as well as all the guards and the workers."

Max heard an extremely obnoxious laughing noise. Both of the voices sounded very old and raspy. Max looked down at her waist, and saw what appeared to be She felt like she was somewhere where she was both touchable, and untouchable;somewhere between worlds, so to speak. The girl turned her head to glance out the window in hopes of jogging her memory. It was dark, with huge circles in the sky with twinkling lights scattered across the sky. Then she remembered which planet she was on; Mars. Max found herself stuck in a high-security vault that was holding a massive cache of valuable minerals-diamonds, emeralds, topaz, and gold-to name a few. Max looked at the inside of the vault for awhile trying to find a weak spot in the defense. The one thing she saw was the guards who were watching the jewels. She glanced to the left, then glanced to the right. She noticed that they were very inexperienced and and her bonds were extremely weak. Max thought to herself, "they would be easy to take out". Max tore out of her bonds, and ran over to the door, before she tapped one of the guards on the shoulder, then she ducked down at the guard mistakenly punched the guard next to him. The two of them began to punch each other in the face, and max used the opportunity to run off into the halls. In the span of 10 minutes, Max had gotten past 60 guards and 40 workers without detection. Max had one goal: to make it out of the facility with her. Her memory was still extremely fuzzy, but she faintly remembered sitting at a bench with someone who told her how diamonds and emeralds were necessary for constructing the lenses that amplified the laser blasts. As she got lost in her thoughts, and attempts to recover her memory, she totally missed the two guards chasing her until they were a few feet away from her.

As she ran away from the drones following her, she looked down at the belt, and saw the word, "melee," and frantically pressed the button. There was a bright red flash before she looked down at her hands, now holding a pair of mechanical gauntlets.

Max glared back at guards as smirked, muttering, "oh boy, you're in trouble now!" Max charged at the guards, slamming one's head into the wall, before whirling around and supplexing the other. Max panted as she backed away to admire her handiwork, only for her jaw to drop as she saw the guards weren't aliens as she had originally surmised, but drones, likely being controlled by the actual aliens. She ran through the halls of the facility, and eventually looking for a room where she could connect to a database of some kind. She eventually found a heavily guarded room with what looked like data storage Consoles.

After she forced the guards out of the room labeled, "Storage Matrix," he plugged the glove into the console, and accessed the files. She soon began to pore over all of they're information, discovering that they weren't called martians, but they called themself the Andarsos, and that their goal was the conquest of earth. She needed to try to find a way to alert the people of earth, or stop them dead in their tracks. She thought silently for a few seconds before slapped her forehead and muttered out a curse word in exasperation. "Oh, god! How am I going to stop them?! It's me against 7,000,000,000 drones, and lord knows what else!" she silently thought a few more minutes before she looked down at the belt fastened around her waist, reading all the buttons: the red, "Melee" button she had pressed earlier, a yellow button labeled as, "Range", a orange button labeled, "Defend", fourth amber button labeled, "finisher" and a fifth black button in the center of the belt labeled "transform."

She lowered her hand to the black button, and yelled, "TRANSFORM!" before closing her eyes, and pressing it. There was a single flash of bright red light, and a voice yelled, "LET'S UPGRADE! K-K-K-KAMEN RIDER! SOL! AWAKEN, KNIGHT OF FIRE AND LIGHT!" She opened her eyes a second later. Now she was encased in some kind of armor, she also saw a bunch of electronic tabs pop up, each displaying some kind of statistic, or a function of the belt. She barely had a minute to adjust to this sudden change before a swarm of guard drone burst in, yelling in their alien language, "Sevra Kapra, mali keeshee!(Loose translation, "Stop their, small spandex person!")"

Max lowered her right hand to press the yellow button, the voice yelled again, "R-R-ROCK HEAVEN ABOVE, AND HELL BELOW! DUAL CANNON!" another flash of red later, and her arms had been transformed into a pair of laser cannons. She whirled around to face the drones, and yelled, "SAY HELLO THE MY LITTLE ACQUAINTANCES!" Before letting loose a barrage of lasers that tore the guards apart. Another tab popped up, which had some kind of video conference with a person covered in grey skin with a pair of horns that looked like candy corn. The individual said, "==}-Chearla?! Chearla?-{==" Max shook her head in confusion; "I beg your pardon?" The grey girl backed away from the screen slightly and said, "==}-oh! You speak english?-{==" Max glanced around at the other tabs before looking back at the blue girl, "yes?" "==}-Oh, good! Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Arlene Riyzer!-{==" Max heard shouting and glanced over her shoulder to see another legion of guards advancing. "Uh, hey, Arlene? Can I call you back? There's a legion of robots attacking me, and now's not a good time for a skype call!" Arlene perked up, and said, "==}-oh, right that! I can help with that, I can help with that!-{==" "WELL DON'T JUST SIT THERE SAYING STUFF, HELP ME!" "==}-Press the melee button on your belt.-{=="

Max hit the button, and one blinding sphere of red light later, and the cannons were replaced by a single sword. At least, she thought it was a sword. It was almost 4 feet long, and seemed extremely… ornate for a tool that was meant for destroying legions of mindless drones. Either way, it was Max's best bet at getting out of this place alive, she grasped the hilt, and yelled, "let's go!" As max swung the massive blade at the drones, cleaving them in half. Arlene meanwhile was furiously typing at her keyboard, before yelling, "==}-Prepare to receive your battle cards!-{==" Max shook her head and asked, "battle cards?" "==}-Sending, NOW!-{=="

Yet another flash of red light later, and Max found a new compartment on her belt containing the aforementioned cards. She reached into this compartment, and pulled out one of the cards in question. It had what appeared to be a robotic eel printed on it. "How the hell is an eel gonna help me?!" "==}-Insert it into your blade! Trust me!-{==" She looked at the hilt of her sword in time to see a compartment filled with conveniently card shaped slots for her to insert the card into. Max shrugged, and said, "well, it can't make things worse." As she slid the card into the first slot, the robotic voice that had announced her transformation yelled, "SHOCK THE WORLD AROUND YOU! LIGHTNING!" Arlene piped up; "==}-Now insert the Accel card into one of the open slots!-{==" Max reached back into the pouch and drew another card with the word, "Accel" written over the picture of a robot cheetah. She quickly inserted it into the sword, and felt some kind of energy begin to course through her body. The world around her became very unfocused, and next thing she knew, she was in the middle of some kind of vehicle loading bay.

Max looked around at the swarms of guards and workers that were only just starting to notice that she had literally just appeared in front of them. She nervously glanced around. She cleared her throat and said, "so, um… can someone please direct me to the bathroom?"


	2. Chapter 2: Lockdown

Chapter 2

Lockdown

What followed Max's statement was what you would usually expect a bunch of workers and alien drones would do if you were a fugitive that was previously locked away in a vault full of valuable minerals and used a belt to transform into a silly looking superhero would do: Pressed a button that initiated a lockdown. The workers fled from the bay, with all possible escape roots being blocked by doors that were made of metal and likely too thick to pierce. Glanced at the tab with Arlene and said, "What's the plan from here?" Arlene frantically typed away at her keyboard as she replied; "==}-How long will you be able to hold them off for?-{==" Max shrugged, "I don't know! Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes tops?" Arlene nodded and said, "==}-Make it 10. I'm sending something your way.-{=="

The tab with Arlene's face disappeared, and Max's focus returned to the drones in front of her. She readied her sword, and readied herself for battle. "You wanna strife? Come on, let's strife!" The drones charged at max, shrieking out statements like, "Narf Fronz illichee(loose translation: Cease and desist, or I shall fart in your general direction)," and "Nonsense, my fronz haz nevarbeen Veesoobun(loose translation: You will expire, and meet your maker. You'll be pushing up the daisies! You'll run down the curtain and join the choir invisible!)."

Max reached into the compartment and pulled out a third card labeled, "fire." she inserted the card into one of the 3 remaining slots before she spun around in a circle, cleaving the advancing drones in half. This continued for about 9 more minutes before a rocket crashed through the roof of the facility. The rocket then unfolded to reveal Arlene sitting inside of a motorcycle sidecar. A motorcycle that was made in the shape of a golden gargoyle, to be exact. Arlene beckoned Max, "GET IN, GENIUS!" "o-okay!"

As Max got in the cockpit, the vehicle shot through the open vehicle bay doors, and out onto the red martian soil. When they were out of range, Max pressed the transform button on her belt, causing her armor to disappear before she turned to Arlene and cleared her throat, "so, Arlene…" Arlene looked up at Max, "==}-yes?-{==" "I have… several questions…" "==}-Yes…-{==" "First off: what's this thing exactly?!" "==}-by thing, I presume you are referring to the belt?-{==" "YES!" "==}-The belt is called the Sol Driver. It harnesses the power of the souls of the fallen lightbound in order to convert loose grist particles floating in the aether into armor and I just realised how much of this is probably going over your head right now…-{==" Arlene glanced up, and sure enough, max had a stray drop of drool leaking from her mouth, having gone all cross-eyed. "==}-To abbreviate, your basically harnessing the power of souls to transform into a masked superhero.-{==" Max's eyes uncrossed themselves, and she looked at Arlene, "sorry, a lot of that first statement went over my head." Arlene sighed and rubbed her temples, "==}-No, it's fine. I'm very… articulate, for lack of a better term.-{==" "Hey, look on the bright side, knowing too many words is always better than not knowing enough words." "==}-On the contrary, it's knowing where, when and how to use those words that is a true mark of intellect.-{==" Max quickly went cross-eyed again. Arlene rolled her eyes, "==}-Knowing words is nothing, you have to know where and when to use them.-{==" Max uncrossed her eyes. "Sorry, I do that whenever I'm having trouble thinking." "==}-Eh, not the worst thing that's happened to people when I talk.-{==" "Really?" "==}-Yeah, at one point, someone exploded into a pile of confetti because I read their name backwards. Speaking of names, what's yours?-{==" "Max." "==}-Is that your birth name, or a nickname?-{==" "I-i'm not sure…"

Meanwhile, halfway across the universe, a shadowy individual sat at their desk, the glow of the computer monitor barely illuminating their green, skull-like face. They watched as the two figures drove away from the military base. The figure swiftly clicked on Max's belt, viewing the crafting recipe. The figures expression shifted from gloating to surprise: for being such a powerful device, the Sol Driver was surprisingly inexpensive to replicate. She clicked on the device, causing a perfect clone of it to appear on a pedestal next to her desk in small ball of purple light. The figure then reached into the highest drawer in her desk, before pulling out a box with a black widow spider inside. The figure then stood up, and walked over to another device, similar to the one she had used to clone the Sol Driver.

This device, however, was not meant to clone, but to combine. The figure carefully set the Sol Driver and the spider on one podium. A second item appeared on a second podium linked to the first. This new item was almost identical to the Sol Driver, but instead of being largely fire warm in color, this new belt was purple and green, and appeared to have a distinct spider motif to its design. The figure smiled and reached for the belt, purple lightning arched up from the belt, and blasted her halfway across the room. The figure stood up slowly, rubbing the back of her bald head, before she looked at a white holographic dialogue box that had appeared above the item. It indicated that to combine the items, she would need to gather more materials. Not that it mattered, of course. The figure glanced at the pandemonium taking place outside of her window; hundreds, if not thousands of ogres and imps were raining down from 4 portals above. Each falling unceremoniously into the rotating knives below. The figure cackled gleefully as she watched a handful of sulfur imps land on the knives before popping and turning into build grist.

Her eyes turned to the window opposite the window she was currently looking out of. She looked at the massive metal ship. She was going to use it to cross the universe, and go to the system of Sol, where she would use the belt she was crafting to fight Kamen Rider Sol. The figure slowly walked back over to her desk, and pressed a button on her desk, activating an intercom. "Excuse me, Jayden, would you mind sending me some of the excess grist up to me when you have the chance?" There was no reply. Just as she was about to call again, he felt something tap on the top of her head with a lot of force. The figure screamed and whirled around to see a massive, snow white vulture perched behind her, with a massive basket hanging around its neck. She frantically grabbed the basket, and said, "PISS OFF YOU OVERSIZED BUZZARD!"

As the bird waddled away, the figure spun back around and pressed the button, "JAYDEN! DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO MY FRAGILE ORNITHOPHOBIC ASS EVER AGAIN!" "(O) Next time, use the magic word, dumbass!(O) (O)and by the way, **you** scared the life out of my fragile dumbass-a-phobic bird's ass!(O)" "Keep sassing me and that overgrown desert parrot will be…" "(O)Pushing up the daisies, run down the curtain, join the choir invisible, become an ex-desert parrot, expire, go to meet his maker, etc.?(O) (O)We've been over this a billion times already.(O)" "I was gonna say, "roast your buzzard for the first thanksgiving we send the ship to earth," but yes." As the figure released her hold on the button, and turned away from the monitor. She scratched at the device planted in the back of her neck, as she watched her minions built the machine soon, she thought, soon.


	3. Chapter 3: The portal to earth

Chapter 3

Portal to earth

As Max and Arlene drove further away from the base, Max continued asking to ask Arlene questions. "So, who made the Sol Driver?" "=}-I did. It was extremely difficult, but through a combination of hard work, blood, sweat and tears, I made the Sol Driver.-{=" "How did it end up around my waist?" "=}-That… could be anyone's guess, honestly. All I remember is that I built the driver, and that I ended up throwing it out because I didn't like how it looked.-{=" "Are you mad that I have it?" "=}-Oh, heavens no! I'm actually glad that you have it. Who knows what would have happened if it fell into the wrong hands?-{=" "At best, you'd have a teenager or a prepubescent kid with the power to destroy an entire army, and at worst you'd have either a serial killer, or someone who'd use it to make an entire army with that same army-destroying power." "=}-Precisely. Now, the Sol driver is just one of the drivers I designed in my secret laboratory to use against invaders.-{=" "Invaders? You mean the Andarsos?" "=}-...-{=" "Arlene?" "=}-N-not… exactly…-{=" "What do you mean not exactly?" "=}-The original purpose of the Sol Driver was to defend against multiple threats. It's really hard to explain, but earth is currently threatened by multiple alien forces, and we need all the Kamen Rider we can get to face these threats.-{=" "Why don't you just tell the military or something?" "=}-I did, but they dismissed my efforts to warn them.-{=" "Oh…" "=}-Besides, even at its current level of technology, earth wouldn't stand a chance against multiple advanced alien races attacking it at once.-{=" "What makes you think that I stand a chance against multiple armies of aliens?" "=}-You don't.-{="

Max's heart fell into her stomach. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." "=}-But multiple Kamen Rider do. That's why I built more drivers than just your one.-{=" "Oh." "=}-When we find the correct candidates, you'll be joined by Kamen riders Hades, Juno, Zeus, Athena, Ares, Persephone and Hermes. Each one will provide a unique form of aid along with a unique Advent sprite.-{=" "Advent sprite?" "=}-It the strongest card in your deck, and summons a being made of metal and energy to aid you with a finishing blow.-{=" Max reached into the compartment again, and pulled out a card with an emblem on it; a golden winged reptile. Maybe a pterodactyl?

"So, where are we going to now?" "=}-My secret lab on earth. We should be approaching the portal now.-{=" As the bike swerved around the corner of a giant rock, the pair was met by a small welcoming party of drones, and one slightly bigger creature. The drones were in the process of wrecking some kind of portal. Max looked at Arlene. "=}-Crap they're wrecking the gate!-{=" Max glanced back at the drones and back at Arlene. "How long will it take you to fix the gate?" "=}-I don't know! 7, maybe 15 minutes at the lowest?-{=" "Make it twenty."

Max dismounted the bike, and trudged over to the gate. "Hey! Get away from that gate, you oversized toasters!" The drones and the larger creature whirled around. The larger creature shouted, "IT'S THE FUGITIVES!" When it spoke, drops of spit rained down from its mouth. One stray drop hit Max in the eye. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes, grumbling to herself before she said, "If you know what's good fo-" She was immediately cut off by the sound of all the drones simultaneously readying their guns. "Okay, guess we're doing this the hard way then."

Max lowered her hands, and pressed the transform button on her belt. Some music started playing, as well as what sounded like some japanese girl band chanting; "come on! Let's glow like the sun! Come on! Let's glow like the sun!" She then struck a pose before she yelled, "TRANSFORM!" She was surrounded by a bright red light, and a voice yelled, "K-K-K-KAMEN RIDER! SOL!! AWAKEN KNIGHT OF FIRE AND LIGHT!" The sword appeared in her hands, and she shifted her pose to pointing the sword at her attackers. The drones charged at her whilst firing their blasters at her. Most of them missed despite being several feet away from her. As she drew closer she cracked a smile, and said, "Jeez, who was in charge of teaching you toasters how to aim? The Storm Troopers?" She made short work of the drones before turning to the monster.

As Max continued to deal with the drones, Arlene grabbed the emergency tool kit she had stashed beneath the hood of her side car, and ran towards the gate, frantically opening the box. As the knelt down next to the gate, her hands fumbled with her wrench before she looked up at the gate. As she undid the bolts, Max ran up to the gate, slamming the monster into one of the loosely hanging panels, slamming the panel back into place. Arlene poked her head inside the gate and looked around. Her eyes gravitated towards a glowing stone. She popped her head back out and said, "=}-Aw, shit!-{=" "What's wrong?!" "=}-They broke the spacial stabilizer gem!-{=" "The what now?" "=}-It's a crystal that stabilizes the Cherub portal for interplanetary travel. Break the crystal, you'll be torn across time and space.-{=" "And that's NOT a good thing I assume?" "=}-OF COURSE IT'S A BAD THING!!! No one wants to have their living atomic structure scattered across the dimensional tide!-{=" Max froze up, and while she couldn't see it directly, Arlene was almost certain Max's eyes had crossed again.

"=}-OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!! IT WILL KILL YOU!!!-{=" "Oh, thanks for that! How many more people would you say could SAFELY jump back through?" "=}-One, maybe two if we jumped in at the same time?-{=" "That's all I needed to hear." With that, max pulled out the card with the golden pterodactyl emblem on it, and placed it into the sword. The electronic voice blared, "F-F-F-FINAL STRIKE!!! C-C-C-COME ON, PTEROSPRITE!!!!" There was a red flash of light, as giant humanoid pterodactyl with a ghost tale made of glowing red energy, and covered in regal looking armor appeared. This being flew up behind Max, and linked to her back, with a metallic clanking noise. Max turned to look at Arlene and yelled, "can you turn the portal on?" "=}-I-i think so!-{=" "Good, on my mark, turn the portal on, and get ready for a wild ride!" "=}-What about the bike?-{=" "Once you get the portal working, climb in!" "=}-Before I go through with this, I just need to ask you a question.-{=" "Make it quick!" "=}-DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING?!-{=" "Let's say I'm somewhere between a gut feeling and being completely unsure of myself! NOW MOVE!!!" Arlene swiftly turned the portal on, and closed her toolbox before she jumped into the sidecar. "=}-I'm ready now!-{="

Max grinned and said, "perfect." The pterodactyl spread it's wings, and fired engines underneath her, launching her up into the air. It's long tail detached itself from the creature, reassembling itself as a massive leg mounted drill. A pair of crosshairs targeting the bike, the monster and the portal appeared. She lined all three of the crosshairs up, one on top of the other, stretched her right leg out in front of her in a kicking pose before the rockets fired, and max screamed, "LET'S GO, RIDER KICK!" launching herself at the monster, impaling him with the drill. The pterodactyl detached itself from her back and grabbed the bike with its talons before propeling them all through the portal. As they were transported through a beam of green light the monster screamed, it's robotic form slowly disintegrating as they swiftly approached the earth.

Max and Arlene emerged from the other half of the cherub portal, with the charred remains of the robot stuck to her leg. This is when Max's Sol driver deactivated, causing the armor and the pterodactyl to disappear and causing the bike, Arlene, and Max to crash to the floor of Arlene's lab. The chunk of the robot crashed into the wall where it immediately exploded. Max sat up and looked at the explosion and said, "Why do evil robots always explode when you destroy them? You'd figure that if someone was smart enough to build them that they'd also be smart enough to construct these robots would also have a little quality control!" Arlene groaned and said, "=}-Tell me about it.-{="

Max stood up and said, "so, where are we now?" Arlene stood up and rubbed the back of her head. "=}-My lab. It's where I do a lot of building and fixing stuff.-{=" Arlene looked down at her wrist, likely checking the time on a wrist watch before she yawned and said, "=}-And by the looks of things, it's bedtime.-{=" Max yawned as well, and figured that it had been a crazy day, and that a well-deserved nap was in order. "So, do you have any spare beds I can sleep in?" "=}-Yeah, my hive has a few spare Respiteblocks, so you're more than welcome to use one.-{=" "Thanks, Arlene. Wait, what's a Respiteblock?" "=}-It's the term we trolls use for bedroom.-{=" "Oh, okay then." Shortly afterwords, Arlene led max to an empty room with a bed. Arlene said, "=}-If you need anything, just holler.-{=" Max yawned as Arlene closed the door before finally passing out on the bed.


	4. Chapter 4: Rediscovering a talent

Chapter 4

Rediscovering a talent

It was relatively late in the morning when Max entered Arlene's lab, having already fed, showered and dressed herself. She stopped in front of the door labeled, "Arlene's lab: Please knock first." Max lightly rapped her knuckles against the door three times. The door opened a crack, and Arlene poked her eye through the crack. "==}-Oh, good! I was just about to go upstairs and get you. Please come in.-{==" The wooden door opened up all the way, and Max stepped inside the lab. She hadn't had a good opportunity to look at the lab after their crash landing last night, but now she had a better chance to look around. Most of the walls of the room, which was more of a small wearhouse, were lined with shelves, each stocked mostly with tools, pieces of machinery and hardware, and other odds and ends. The wall directly to her right was the exception; there was a weird organic sack-looking thing that was filled with a green glowing slime in the corner closest to door, and about a foot away from it, there was a workbench which had a dismantled laptop on top of it.

A set of shelves next to the workbench was filled with other home appliances. There were six shelves. The two shelves at the top were labeled, "Needs fixing." The two shelves in the middle were labeled, "scrap for parts and rebuild from scratch." The lowermost shelves were labeled, "finished." "What are these?" "==}-Hmmm? Oh, those! I make money by fixing and reconstructing old household appliances.-{==" "Is it very profitable?" "==}-Surprisingly yes. You'd be surprised how many people are willing to pay through their snort barrels to get a husktop repaired.-{==" "I-i beg your pardon?" "==}-Oh, right. You don't understand alternian slang. What I meant was, "you'd be surprised how many people are willing to pay through the nose to get a laptop repaired."-{==" "Yeah, that makes a lot more sense now." Arlene ran over to her workbench and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. "==}-anyways, enough of this pointless banter, what's your bulbhugger size?-{==" Max tilted her head. "My what size?" "==}-Your bra size.-{==" "That's a rather personal question to ask someone you just met…" Arle As much as I'd love to share all my stuff with you, clothing is… just one of those things gods and mortals alike are not meant to share.-{==" "Okay then…"

After giving Arlene the information required to acquire new clothing for Max, Arlene placed the pad of paper into her pocket, and grabbed her coat from a coat rack next to the shelves with the appliances on them. "==}-I'm going to go shopping. Anything you want from the supermarket?-{==" "Some small microwave pizzas, please." "==}-Got it.-{==" Arlene pulled the pad out of her pocket, and wrote the words, "small flavor disks," on it beneath the clothing measurements. Writing the word, "groceries," directly above that before making a line before drawing a line dividing the two. Arlene left the room, and ran up the stairs. Max examined her surrounding, she heard the faint sound of Arlene yelling, "==}-Hey, Poppie! I'm going to the store, what do you want.-{==" She heard the faint sound of someone shouting, "FAYGO!" and Arlene yelling, "==}-How much more Faygo do you need!? You already have the entire mini fridge full of it!-{==" "nOnsense! One cAn never hAve tOO much FAYGO!" Max yelled, "What the heck is Faygo?" "==}-It's a soft drink. I think it's gross, but my sister Poppie loves the stuff. You want any?-{==" Max heard the other voice yell, "sO it shAll be; FAYGO YesterdAY, FAYGO tOdAY, FAYGO tOmOrrOw, And FAYGO FOrever!" "==}-QUIET, NAUGHTY BEVERAGE GLUTTON! Now do you want me to get you some or not?-{==" Max shrugged. "Sure."

Max heard the faint sound of footsteps, and then the door closing. She then turned around and looked at the rest of the stuff in the room. In the corner of the room opposite the one she was standing near(the one with the organic sack of slime), Max saw several display cases with suits of armor in them, including the one she had worn the previous day during her battle on mars. Next to the cases, she saw another workbench with several sheets of blueprints and an incomplete laser gun on top of the blueprints. She also saw a whiteboard next to it with several equations scribbled across its surface. Her eyes turned back to the laser gun, and she picked it up, and looked over the blueprints. Max picked up some of the tools on the table that had been lying next to the gun, and recognized the basic design. It was from the same place that she remembered the precious minerals and their uses, something with an older sibling as they tried to build a gun for target practice.

When Arlene returned several hours later, she said, "==}-MAX, I'm home with several bags and hangers for your new wardrobe.-{==" The door to the lab swung open, and Max accidentally fired the gun, narrowly missing Arlene's head. "==}-mind warning a guy before you almost shoot him or her in the head?!-{==" "S-sorry, Arlene!" "==}-Where the flying fuck did you get that from?-{==" "I built it." "==}-Excuse me, what?-{==" "I built it." "==}-Dude! You can't even hear a sentence with more than 5 long words before your eyes get more crossed than religious symbol! How are you supposed to…-{==" Arlene's voice trailed off as she looked at the now largely empty blue work bench, and a look of amazement crossed her face. "==}-Mind if I test that?-{==" Max tossed the gun to Arlene and said, "Sure, knock yourself out!" Arlene walked over to the wall and pulled a switch next to her blue tool bench. This switch triggered the wall behind Max to slide away, and several archery targets appeared. Arlene reached onto the table and grabbed a pair of machinists goggles that max had failed to notice earlier, and took aim at the targets. "==}-3… 2… 1…-{==" Arlene fired a volley of bolts at the targets, the recoil from the gun launching her back a few feet. "==}-Incredible! Wait, let me make an adjustment.-{=="

Arlene ran back to the workbench, and grabbed a screwdriver and a wrench. A few minutes later, she re-positioned herself in front of the targets and fired a volley of bolts at the targets, with little to no recoil this time. Max clapped her hands and said, "amazing!" "==}-Yeah, now let's see if the Sol Driver still works.-{==" "Wait, why?" "==}-Your armor disappeared the second we came out of the portal last night. If you're going to be saving the world with that belt, it's best we have it in a working condition. Understand?-{==" "I guess." With that, max pressed the transform button on the Sol Driver, and yelled, "TRANSFORM!" The belt made a crackling noise, and Max looked down just in time to see electricity arc out from the core of the belt before it exploded, launching her into the targets on the wall. Max tried to get back up, and stumbled around the workshop, and right into the sack of green slime. There was a "splat," and she backed away from the sack, she wiped the slime out of her eyes, and swallowed some of the green slime. "What the heck is this stuff?" "==}-Sopor slime. Please don't tell me you swallowed any!-{==" The last thing max remembered before the bright purple mongoose hit her over the head with a croquet mallet was that she had either said, "my wallet tastes delicious," or, "yes, mister Roosevelt, our cruising speed is nine hundred and three meters."


	5. Chapter 5: Shellshocked Tides

Chapter 5

Shellshocked tides

When Max woke up, she was in a dark room, and now literally soaking in the green slime that caused her to say that her wallet tasted nice. That, and she was naked, say for her undergarments. She frantically squirmed, trying to get out of the purple sack. A voice nearby said, "hAvinG trouble there?" Max turned her head(which was really the only part of her body that was still mobile inside of the sack), and saw a troll that was half of Arlene's height, sitting next to the sack with her face buried in her phone. "Who the heck are you?" "mY nAme's pOppie. i'm Arlene's YOunGer sister." "What happened to the purple mongoose? And why am I currently bathing in a pool of slime that made me talk about how palatable my wallet is?" "purple… mOngOOse?!" "Yeah, right before I blacked out, I saw one hit me with a croquet mallet." "i dOn't knOw AnYthinG AbOut AnY mOngeese, let AlOne A purple One, but i did hAve tO knOck YOu Out with a crOquet mAllet." "Wait, that means… **you** were the purple mongoose!" "dO i lOOk like A FuckinG mOngOOse tO YOu?! YOu were hiGh On the sOpOr slime!" "Ah, yes. Speaking of which, how do I get out of this…?" "recuperAcOOn." "Whatever, how do I get out?" Poppie stood up and strolled out of the room. "What are you doing?!" "GettinG A bOttle Of pAm."

That statement confused max for a second before she rolled her eyes and said, "why not get the crowbar while your at it?" There was a loud noise that sounded like metal scraping against stone. "==}-POPPIE! THAT WAS HYPERBOLE!-{==" "Oh, YOu're nO Fun AnYmOre!" Poppie came back into the room shortly, with the aforementioned can of PAM, and said, "hOld still." "==}-POPPIE, STOP THIS NOW!-{==" "uGh, Fine! just A secOnd!" Poppie threw the can of pam off to the side, and grabbed Max by her head and pulled her out of the recuperacoon with a loud "schlorp," and flinging her into the wall behind her. Fortunately, the sopor seemed to cushion her fall, as it didn't hurt as much as it did the last time someone, or rather, something had flung her into a wall with incredible force.

Arlene ran into the room, and max just sorta slid down the side of the wall and onto the floor. Arlene said, "==}-Hey Max! How are you doing?-{==" Max slipped slightly as she tried to regain her footing, and she grunted a reply; "I'm doing fine. Your sister is super strong, given her size." "i'm AlsO cOvered in sOpOr slime, sO iF YOu dOn't mind, i think i'm GOnnA tAke A shOwer." Poppie ran out of the room, and back up the flight of stairs that lead down to the basement. Arlene turned to max and held out a towel, as well as some fresh clothes. "Thanks, Arlene." "==}-You're welcome.-{==" However, what neither of them knew was that at that very moment, a swarm of Andarsian drones were surrounding the house, and ready to attack the three of them. The drones were actually quite careful when invading the house, as they actually entered through a sliding glass door in the back of the house. It also helped them avoid detection until it was too late. When Max and Arlene got upstairs, they were completely surrounded.

Max looked around as the drones drew closer to her, each one was unarmed, but without the ability to turn into any Kamen Rider, brute strength was all they really needed to fight against Max and Arlene. Two of the drones quickly grabbed Max, and restrained her. Two more cornered Arlene. Another pair of drones ran up the stairs to the bathroom, and ran in on Poppie, who was in the middle of getting ready to take her bath when the two drones walked in on her. "OkAY, whY the heck Are there drOnes in the bAthrOOm?!"

One of the drones next to Arlene said, "Arlene Riyzer; You are hereby charged with the creation of Kamen Rider sol; responsible for over ten million galactic units in property damages against the Andarsian armies. You are hereby summoned to stand trial and atone for your sins. Failure to comply will result in the termination of your sister and your accomplice. Termination will commence in 3… 2… 1…" "==}-Fine, I surrender!-{==" "Ha ha, that was a lie, we're still going to kill them anyways!" A beeping noise came from the bathroom upstairs and the drone holding Arlene said, "unit Omega-75 has detected visual anomaly in bathroom mirror. Provide visual to commanding unit."

In the upstairs bathroom, the, "visual anomaly," stood confidently, with it's arms crossed, and a smirk on it face. It quickly raised something up to the mirror and silently mouthed the words, "Kamen Rider," before a flash of green light obscured him from view. As the drones re-adjusted, there was a noise that sounded like a, "Schlorp," as the mirror's surface began to ripple like water. A voice came from the other side of the mirror; "}]- ( Hey, buddy? Take some time to **reflect** on your actions!" A hand shot out of the mirror, and grabbed the drone by it's head, pulling it into the mirror as a figure in swamp green armor emerged from the other side.

The figure quickly grabbed a part of his belt and raised it to the mirror, causing the rear half of the drone to fall to the floor. The figure then placed the tablet back into his belt before pulling a card out of the tablet, and placing it into a gauntlet. The gauntlet yelled, "Sword vent!" And a bizarre saber came out of the mirror. The figure ran out of the bathroom, leaving a flustered Poppie in his wake. The figure entered the kitchen, and cleaved two of the drones in half. The figure then charged the two drones restraining Max, pulling the sword into two smaller swords which he rammed through the drones. The drones slumped onto the ground, making a fizzling noise that signified their demise. The figure spun around as two more drones tried to take him from behind, and cleaved them in half from head to toe. The figure whirled around dramatically as the drones fell to the ground and snapped his fingers. "}]- (Time for you guys to split." The two drones exploded, and Arlene grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed to put the fire out. "==}-Who the heck are you?!-{==" The figure jabbed his sword into the ground and leaned up against it. "}]- ( An ancient warrior, tasked by the gods to protect others from evil! but you may call me kamen rider RIPTIDE!"

"==}-Cerrul.-{==" The figure perked up, "{]- ( Who's Cerrul?" "==}-Take the fucking helmet off.-{==" The figure sighed, and pulled the plastic tablet out of his belt, and said, "|]- ( power down." Swamp green rings of energy surrounded him, and swept over his body, causing the armor to disappear, revealing he was a very scrawny troll with horns shaped like chopsticks. "{ :- ) So, how's life been treating you Arley?!" Arlene pulled her wrench out and gently tapped the troll on the head, causing the troll to flop onto the ground like a ragdoll. Max stood up and said, "who the hell is that?" "==}-My ex-moirail, Cerrul Lianne.-{==" "I beg your pardon?" "==}-On Alternia, relationships are organized into four categories: matesprit, which is a spousal relationship, moirail, which is an intimate relationship, Auspistice, which is a relationship mediated between two people, and kismesis, which is basically hate love.-{==" "Isn't that contradictory?" "==}-Yes.-{==" "If he was your boyfriend, why'd you hit him with a wrench?" "==}-Ever had someone almost completely destroy your laboratory as well as evidently steal your life's work as well as getting your Lusus culled?-{==" "No, and about half of that stuff flew over my head, but assuming by how oddly specific you were being that that's exactly what happened." "==}-Yeah…! Pretty much!-{=="

Another voice came from behind them, "just GGonna clear this up: we DDid NNot steal AAnyone's technology." Everyone-minus Cerrul-turned around in time to see a figure in orange armor similar to Cerrul's exit the sliding glass door, and power down to reveal he too was a troll, with an olive green sign on his shirt that looked like a curly-q made of right angles connected to a circle. "And who the fuck are you?" "ZZander GGamera, otherwise known AAs kamen RRider shellshock." "How many of us are there?!" "==}-Clearly more than I originally surmised.-{==" "i'm cerrul's RRoommate. it's NNice to MMeet you." Max hesitantly reached out to shake Zander's hand, "Max." "NNice to MMeet you, MMax." Poppie ran into the room, and yelled, "i hAve questiOns!" Zander looked at Poppie and said, "i have AAnswers." "whO the hell wAs thAt whO cAme Out Of the mirrOr? whY is YOur ex here? And mOst impOrtAntlY, Are the drOnes GOne nOw?" Zander sighed and rolled his eyes. "first off, that was cerrul. second, he AAnd I AAre here because we were told to. AAnd lastly, yes, they AAre gone NNow." "uGh, thAnk YOu! iF YOu dOn't mind, i'm GOnnA tAke A shOwer **withOut** AnY drOnes cOminG in and tAkinG AwAY mY privAcY!"

As Poppie marched back to the bathroom and locked the door, Zander grabbed Cerrul by the legs, and dragged him back to the glass door. "see you AAround." "==}-Why will we be seeing you around?-{==" "we're kamen RRiders. fighting injustice is just what we DDo. whelp, see you AAround." There was a "schlorp," and both Cerrul and Zander disappeared into the glass door. Arlene and Max just stood there in silence for what felt like several hours. Max eventually broke the silence by yawning and saying, "so, we start work on fixing the Sol Driver tomorrow?" Arlene looked down at her watch and said, "==}-Yeah, it's almost 10, we'll and then start work on fixing the belt tomorrow.-{==" Max walked up the stairs to her room, and yawned again. She made her way over to her bed and fell down onto the mattress. As she sat there, soaking up the silence, a question buzzed in the back of her head; how had she known how to fix that gun? She dwelled on it for another minute before she finally fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6:Enter:Chemogoblin

Chapter 6

Enter: Chemogoblin!

"Professor Mattelnus! Welcome!" General Zavacc cracked a smile as the weapons developer strolled into his office. "Cut to the chase, Fornacius. Why are you wasting the time I could be spending to develop our drones?" The General winced at the sound of the weapons developer calling him by his first name before he said, "Ah, that's just the subject, I wished to speak to you about. Or rather, the reason why your tin soldiers are being hacked to pieces by a bunch of children!" The general dramatically pressed a big red button on his desk, causing several holograms to appear, each displaying swarms of drones getting beaten up by various Kamen Rider from earth. "Well, Mattelnus, explain why your tin cans keep getting their asses kicked!" Mattelnus rolled his eyes and said, "they're mooks. They don't have the proper equipment to deal with Kamen Riders yet." "Yet?!" "Yes, I am currently in the process of developing advanced soldiers with upgraded weapons and armor." "And if those drones fail?" "I look over each defeat individually, and see what can be learned from each. Fail, analyze, upgrade, and repeat until the outcome is victory." "Well then, if you're so certain that this will work, then present one of these upgraded soldiers already!"

When general Zavacc said the word, "upgraded," a stray drop of spit flew from the general's mouth and right into the professor's face. The professor grumbled as he whiped the spit out of eyes, and pulled a remote out of his pocket. He pressed a button, and there was a beeping noise, followed by metallic footsteps steadily approaching the room. As the shadow of a drone loomed outside the hall, a guard drone made a power before it fell over, covered in rust. "General, may I present to you the mighty Chemogoblin!" "What does it do?" "Inside this stainless steel chest, Chemogoblin contains a plethora of compounds that he can mix together to create powerful chemical weapons!" "Big deal, so what if he mph-!" The general was silenced by a slimy blob that flew onto his face, and sealed his mouth shut. The general grabbed the blob, and began to pull with all of his might. As the general continued to struggle with his gag, the robot began to speak, "As you can see, general, I am master of over a thousand chemical weapons from high-power adhesives to corrosive toxins." General Zavacc pulled off the gag, and said, "point taken. Now just one little question: Why does it sound like a text-to-speech program?" "All of the storage that was used for data such as my personality was deleted, and replaced with cold, unfeeling, science-based logic." "And how long until it can be deployed to fight the Kamen rider?" Mattelnus grinned and said, "whenever you want…"


	7. Chapter 7:Remnants to upgrades

Chapter 7

Remnants to upgrades

"Hey, Arlene! How's the scavenger hunt going?" "==}-I-i'm working on it! Where did I place those blueprints?-{==" Arlene frantically dug through a file cabinet labeled, "blueprints," occasionally tossing the odd blueprint into a recycling bin, muttering a word like, "==}-useless,-{==" and, "==}-outdated.-{==" Poppie and Max were busy hauling the remnants of the dismembered drones down to Arlene's lab. As the hauled the first of the two robots that Cerrul had impaled the previous night, Arlene groaned, "UUUUUGH!" And there was a massive flash of green and pink light. "Omigosh! Arlene!" Max dropped her half of the drone and ran down the stairs, causing the drone to flop onto Poppie's foot. "REEEEEEEEEEE!" Poppie screamed and dropped her half of the drone, causing it to slide down the stairs. As Max reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Arlene kneeling amidst a wasteland of discarded blueprints, her arms outspread as though she was hailing a king, or praying to some divine power. The burning remnants of several blueprints rained down from the sky, like a snow of ill planned and useless ideas. Arlene sniffled as yellow tears began to run down the side of her gray cheeks. "Are you okay, Arlene?" Arlene turned to look at Max, and said, "==}-I… I'm fine, just a little frustrated is all.-{==" "Mind if I ask what with?" "==}-A lot of things; Cerrul showing back up, the fact that he and his friend are both Kamen riders, the fact that my little sister hit you over the head with a croquet mallet…-{==" "Yeah, I get it Arlene." "==}-…the fact that I have another mouth to feed on top of my sister, our Lusus and I, the fact that my summer vacation will be coming to an end shortly and I'll have less time to spend on my job, the general fact that I'm a criminal just because I didn't become a battery for an Alternean warship like the rest of my caste…-{==" "Arlene, I get it!" "==}-…the fact that you said your wallet is palatable with a straight face, the fact that you don't even have a wall-!-{==" Max and Poppie shouted in unison: "WE GET IT, ARLENE!" "==}-Oh… was I monologuing again?-{==" "YES!" "==}-Damnit, again! And just a final worry of mine: the fact that I made too many blueprints, and can't find the original Sol driver. Speaking of which; how's the process of taking down the drones?-{==" "Oh, it's GOinG GreAt, just hAd mY FuckinG FOOt crushed under One, but Otherwise, i'm Fine." "==}-Okay, I'm feeling better now, back to work!-{=="

Max rummaged around through the pile of blueprints, pulling out anything that looked vaguely useful. "Oh, this one looks interesting; an upgraded bike. Oh, here it is! Hey, Arlene!" "==}-That's my name, don't wear it out!-{==" "Were these the blueprints you were looking for?" Arlene walked over and picked grabbed the large sheet of blueprints. "==}-I can't believe I missed them! Ugh!-{==" Arlene grabbed Max's had and profusely shook them. "==}-Thank you, Max!-{==" "Uh, happy to help." Arlene ran over to the blue workbench with the charred remains of the Sol Driver, and began to rapidly disassemble the belt into its base components, spreading the pieces out over the blueprints. "So, what now?" "==}-The first thing any good inventor does when something breaks: Analyze the previous version, and see what broke.-{==" "And?" "==}-And what?-{==" "And what what broke exactly?" "==}-Well, for starters, I'd say that the device itself wasn't exactly built by experienced hands…-{==" "I thought you built it!" "==}-true, but at the time I was still relatively inexperienced. It's basically an imperfect prototype that I threw together over the course of a few weeks.-{==" "I see." "==}-Now, please go help Poppie take the rest of the drones apart!-{==" "Yes Ma'am!"

"tOOk YOu lOnG enOuGh, mAx!" "Sorry, Poppie, just had to talk with Arlene." "YeAh, YeAh, nOw help me liFt this Oversized tOAster OntO the tAble!" Poppie grabbed the drone by it's legs, and Max grabbed the shoulders, before they hoisted the drone onto the work bench. After that, things came together pretty quickly, or rather, came apart pretty quickly. The drone literally fell to bits after Poppie undid the first screw, and all the limbs fell off the body and onto the table. "hOly crAp! evil empires must reAllY build their rObOts On the mOtherFuckinG cheAp if YOu cAn literAllY mAke All OF their bits FAll OFF bY tAkinG Out A sinGle screw!" Max gave Poppie a light bop on the head and said, "language!" Poppie rubbed the top of her head and said, "shut up! i'mmA sAY whAtever the hell i wAnt withOut peOple tellinG me tO be, "sensitive tO thOse with mOre reliGiOus mindsets," whAtever the Fuck thAt meAns!" Max glanced at Arlene with a shocked expression. Arlene just kept her back turned to the two of them as she worked on the Sol Driver and said, "==}-Not my fault, not my problem!-{==" "You're her older sister! Tell her to shut up!" "lOOk, sweetheArt! reGArdless of whAt ArlY has tOld YOu, we're nOt ActuAllY sisters." Max was taken aback slightly, "you're not?" "OF cOurse nOt, dumbAss!" "W-what do you… that is to… j-just, huuuuah…?" Arlene picked up a welding torch and mask, and said, "==}-we've never even met our own parents.-{==" "Okay, explain this to me!" Arlene turned around and said, "==}-our species don't actually raise their young; instead, when two trolls decide to, you know…-{==" Arlene lowered her voice while making air quotes, "==}-"roast the broomstick," the leftover genetic material is collected in a bucket that imperial drones carry to the mother grub who gives birth to grubs, which are basically caterpillars with troll heads on them. The grubs then cocoon themselves, then a child troll hatches from that, and is raised by a lusus, which are basically freakish white animals that act as our parents. After that we're organized into castes based on blood color. Red, orange and yellows like me make up the lower classes...-{==" "while purples, viOlets And FuchsiAs mAke up the hiGher clAsses." "And judging by the fact that Poppie wears purple, and you wear dark yellow, I'm assuming that you're basically on different ends of society." "YeAh, prettY much!" "Then why are you living in the same house and consider each other family?" "==}-That's a long and traumatic story of romance, pain, and an ex-moirail most foul. And while I'd love to give you it in the form of a song, but I ended up culling the audience the last time I sang.-{==" Max looked at Poppie who said, "everYOne was deAd. it wAs chAOs. it's AlsO whY we were bAnished frOm AlterniA severAl sweeps eArlY." "==}-I'm still surprised that I wasn't culled after that seadweller critic bled out from the ears!-{==" "it's 'cAuse i'm YOur GOOd luck chArm, ArlY." "==}-Keep telling yourself that Pops.-{=="

Arlene turned back to the Sol Driver and began welding bits back into place. The placed the final screw into place, and said, "==}-I finished it! Now I just need to reprogram it.-{==" Arlene pulled a usb cord out of the Sol Driver before she pulled open a drawer in the bench, and grabbed a laptop, and opened it. A massive wall of text appeared. Max assumed it was the Sol Driver's base programming. As Arlene worked on the program, Max walked over to the mini-fridge and grabbed a bottle of soda out of it. "So, that's the coding the Sol Driver uses?" "==}-hmm? Oh! Yes, actually! This is the base code for the driver, and its functions.-{==" "oh, cool!" "==}-Unfortunately, it's gonna take a long time before it'll be fully reprogrammed.-{==" "Well, can't you do anything to make it faster? Maybe you could copy and paste code from your other drivers to make it faster?" "==}-Max, I appreciate the forward thinking, but sadly the person who programmed the sol driver was a bit of a fuckhead.-{==" "But I thought YOU programmed the sol driver!" "==}-Exactly. I didn't learn how to program an advanced piece of hardware overnight you know!-{==" There was a short awkward pause. "==}-Okay, I did learn how to program a computer overnight, and THAT is why I said it was programmed by a fuckhead. Lesson I've learned since then is that you should never rely on Scratch to program a belt containing advanced weaponized hardware that would put most military's to shame.-{==" Max yawned and looked up at the clock on the wall and said, "I'm going to turn in early. That okay with you?" "==}-Sure! Go right ahead.-{==" "Goodnight." Max made her way up the stairs and passed out on the bed.

When Max woke up, there was a figure in a hockey mask standing at the foot of her bed, brandishing a large knight. Max looked on in horror as the figure brought her knife down… right onto a watermelon. The two stood there in an awkward silence before the person in the mask said, "wAnt sOme wAtermelOn?" Max looked up at poppie and said, "What the hell is with the serial killer mask?!" "Oh, this is just sO the juice dOesn't gO intO mY eYes! this AlsO hAppens tO be mY wAtermelOn disembOwelinG rOOm" poppie sheathed the knife, and grabbed the cutting board/table thing she was using and walked to the door. "Why the fuck do you have a, "watermelon disemboweling room?!" "thAt… is A reAllY GOOd questiOn thAt i think i never wOuld hAve Asked mYselF!" "Ugh, go back to your recouper-racoon or whatever it is that you sleep in." "GOOd niGht tO YOu tOO."


	8. Chapter 8:dreams of darkness

Chapter 8

Dreams of darkness

Cerrul panted as he ran through the largely vacant streets of ventara; glancing over his shoulder as the purple rider pursued him. He jumped behind a car, and reached into his belt, and pulled out a card labeled as, "swap vent." He inserted the card into the visor on his arm as it said, "swap vent!" he jumped out from behind the car as a beam came out of his visor, and attached to the attackers weapon before swapping their weapons. He looked down as a pair of useless war fans materialized in his hands. Cerrul looked up at his aggressor and said, "{]- ( oh, fuck…" as he realized that he had just traded an extremely dangerous bazooka for a pair of fans. The rider aimed said bazooka right at him, and pulled out their final vent card, and inserting it into their visor. "Final vent." Their was a cartoonish whistling noise as the area around Cerrul grew darker, and the purple Rider said, "bye-bye!" before he was squashed by a giant dead parrot made of metal. Cerrul suddenly found himself in his recooperacoon breathing heavily.

"{ :- 0 HOLY FUCK!" Cerrul screamed as he sat up in a cold sweat. "|:- \ Oh, thank god! It was just a dream." A gruff voice came from the side of his bed, "what was just a dream?" Cerrul screamed and sat up, looking next to him to see a kamen rider in black and navy blue armor sitting next to his bed. "M-master Len!?" The man unmorphed from his armor, sitting in a wooden chair next to Cerrul's bed. "(°.°) What the hell are you doing in my house?!" "I got in using the advent deck." The elder Kamen rider raised a brown bottle to his lips and took a prolonged sip. "{:- / were you watching me sleep?" "No, got here 10 seconds before you woke up. I wanted to talk to you about your adventure with Shellshock the other day." ":- | Oh, that. Well, it all started when Xander and I were walking through the farmers market. He was looking for a root vegetable called Cellarac, which I said sounded like an inflammatory condition." "Okay." ":- | We were just about to leave with the Cellarac, when we saw something odd in a glass window: a mechanical spider. We immediately pulled out our advent decks and morphed, running right into ventara to find it oddly abandoned, say for the spider monster, which shellshock dispatched in the most ludicrous way imaginable. That's when I saw my ex-moirail Arlene and her sister being attacked by robots, so I lent them a hand. The last thing I remember was powering down before Arlene knocked me out with the gentle tapping of a wrench."

Cerrul stopped talking abruptly, hyperventilating as Len took another swig from the bottle, before placing it under the chair. "And what about the dream you just woke up from?" "{:- | I don't know. All I remember is that I switched my shooting vent for a pair of war fans, and then I got squashed by a massive parrot." "Interesting." Len stood up, and walked towards the tv opposite of Cerrul's bed, and said, "Keep your eyes open for whatever you saw in that dream." "(:- | okay then. Goodnight, Len." "Goodnight, Cerrul." With that, Len disappeared into the TV screen, and Cerrul fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9: The Hellion

Chapter 9

The hellion

"==}-Almost finished.-{==" Arlene muttered to herself as she inserted the square silicon panel into the chestplate. Max stared over Arlene's shoulder as the troll lined up each of the tiny chips of silicon to perfectly fit into the slots on the new breastplate they had made for the Kamen Rider Sol armor. It was looking a lot cleaner, which was to say, the new combination of red, black, white, and navy blue was looking a less like a prototype, and more like a finished product. Sure, there were still a few rough patches: The compartment for the cards was a prime example, with it remaining the only black component on the now largely gray, white and orange Sol Driver. The sword she had used now looked like it was from a completely different Kamen rider, but Arlene had assured Max that when she was done with the armor and driver, she'd work on the sword.

Poppie had been dragging the discarded remains of the old armor and belt over to her own workroom, and seemed to be **TRYING** to build her own driver and armor. She had a fairly large whiteboard next to the door that read, "Poppie's man cave lab which has experienced exactly-" the bulk of the board after "exactly" was largely empty space intended for tally marks, with the words, "explosions since its establishment." Max had made it as far as 96 before she lost track of the tally marks. The last time Poppie had came out, it was with a giant container filled with empty soda bottles. She had been covered in black, purple, red and navy blue spots that Max assumed was spray paint. When Max asked Poppie about it she had said, "it's just A side prOject. nOthinG tO be cOncerned Over."

Max continued to ponder this as Arlene inserted the last of the silicon into the breastplate, and said, "==}-Alright, finished. Note to self; read description on amazon prime **BEFORE** ordering what you think are readily made solar panel components.-{==" "Hmmm? Oh, yes, yes! Read the description on amazon before ordering indeed." "==}-You have no idea what I was talking about, do you?-{==" "I haven't gone cross-eyed, have I?" "{]- ( I don't know, turn around so I can see." Arlene slowly turned her head to see the head of Kamen Rider Riptide sticking out of one of the solar panels on the armor. "{]- \ pardon the intrusion, but would one of you be a doll and get me a larger mirror? The dimensional barrier between earth and ventara is making me crane my neck in the sense that it's literally stretching my neck like a crane!" Max and Arlene both gave Cerrul an awkward stare. "|]- [ The bird, not the piece of construction equipment. Y-you know what… oh, screw it! I'm going home." Cerrul's head quickly disappeared into the solar panel.

Max and Arlene silently stood their, giving each other one of those looks like, "what just happened remains between the two of us." until there was a loud clattering noise, and the door to Poppie's lab flew open, and she stumbled out holding what appeared to be padlock with what appeared to be a molded pomegranate in the place of a dial(?). "Ah! lAdY luck hAs FinAllY GrAced me!" "==}-Wuzzat?!-{==" "lOck seed. hAd tO GO tO hell And bAck just tO Get it." "What are you building in there?!" "OhmYGOshi'vesAidtOOmuchbYe!" Poppie ran back into her lab, slamming the door behind her, which was followed by the noise of what Max guessed was a bolt she used to lock the room. "Does she do that a lot?" "==}-Disappear into that room, or act suspicious?-{==" "Yes." "==}-I'll just leave it at she does the latter more than the former.-{=="


	10. Chapter 10: My chemical quadrant

Chapter 10

My chemical quadrant

As Cerrul pulled his head out of the window pain he had been holding, he put his hands on his helmet, and used it to loosen the joints in his neck. He turned around, and was immediately met by a robot with a large pointy head. "Identify: You are Kamen Rider riptide." "{]- ( uh, there's no one here by that name!" "Analysis: Subject is attempting to subvert unit's suspicions by lying. Suggested course of action: Terminate!" "|]- i Brilliant…" Riptide reached into the deck, and pulled out a card labeled, "stealth vent," and swiftly inserted the card into his croc visor. The visor immediately said, "stealth vent," as Riptide and his shadow slowly dissolved.

The robot looked around and said, "analysis: Opponent is attempting to hide from this unit. Engaging infrared scan." The robot's head spun in a circle before the robot said, "Analysis: Opponent is hiding… there." A small chamber in the robot's chest spun with a hushed whir, before the robot lifted it's left arm, releasing a torrent of pink foam that covered a large portion of the left half of the room. It also left a suspiciously Kamen rider-shaped silhouette on the wall, as well as a suspiciously kamen rider shaped statue covered in pink foam standing in front of it. "{]- ^ well that's a new one!" The robot immediately rushed Riptide, ramming him through the concrete wall into the next room over.

This was immediately followed by a massive black sphere made of a heavy, resin-like material hitting Riptide right in the crotch. This also sent him crashing through the remaining 4 walls in the building, and out into the courtyard, where a fifth wall managed to stop his wanton physics-defying ride on the ball. Shortly after the impact with the fifth wall, Kamen rider riptide groaned, and said, "X- E Oh, god…! My grandkids are probably gonna feel that that one! Better call Shellshock for backup!" Riptide reached into the advent deck, and retrieved a card labeled, "signal vent." He inserted the card into the Croc Visor, and held his hand out in front of him as the visor yelled, "signal vent," and summoned a flare gun that he raised above his head, and fired. A swamp green ball of fire flew into the air, and exploded into a swamp green smoke cloud shaped like a crocodile. "|]- { I just hope someone saw that, or my ass is as good as dead."

The black ball was suddenly thrown aside, as the robot said, "Analysis: target has managed to survive. Redoubling efforts to terminate." Riptide reached back into the deck, and pulled out a card, and rapidly placed it into his visor, causing it to say, "guard vent." A massive shield appeared in his hands, blocking another barrage of chemical foam that was probably harmful. Riptide proceeded to pull another card from the deck called, "rolling vent." After placing it inside the visor, Cerrul curled himself up into a ball and began to roll at the robot with incredible and nauseating speed. The robot aimed at Cerrul and said, "nuh-uh, girlfriend!" before spraying more foam onto Cerrul. This foam in particular seemed to be a powerful adhesive, as Cerrul stopped rolling forward and just sat their, stuck to the ground.

The robot drew closer to Cerrul and said, "Any last wishes?" "{]- | Yeah, just one; what's your name?" "My name is Chemogoblin." "| ]- ) oh, I get it! It's pronounced like hemoglobin, but with a c instead of an H, very clever! As a connoisseur of bad puns, I approve!" "DDon't EEven GGet MMe started, Cerrul!" "What the Sulphur Hydrogen Iodine Technetium was that?!" Chemogoblin was suddenly hit in the face by an orange Kamen rider's shield. "{]- D Zander! Boy, am I glad to see you!" "DDamn RRight you AAre! I MMean, it's kinda hard to MMiss AA GGiant AAlligator shaped EExplosion!" "|]- \ We've been over this before, it is a crocodile, not an alligator!" "Whatever. Let's just vent this creep so I can GGet on with MMy life!" Cerrul nodded, and pulled out a card with the symbol of his advent beast-razordile-and inserted it into his visor. Zander pulled out a card with the symbol of his advent beast-Tortugagigas-and followed suit. The two advent beasts appeared, and Tortugagigas' shell opened, and it's limbs retracted into the shell, firing jets to lift it into the air to become a massive hoverboard that Zander mounted. Razordile opened it's jaws, and Cerrul climbed inside, before being ejected at Chemogoblin. He performed his rider kick at the same time as Zander and Tortugagigas rammed straight through the robot.

Shortly there after, Cerrul poked his head through the mirror in the bathroom as Poppie was preparing to take a bath. He unceremoniously tossed Chemogoblin into the bathroom and said, "|]- [ here, merry 12th perigee's eve!" He immediately ducked back into the portal, leaving Poppie confused, and oddly intrigued.


	11. Chapter 11:A theory

Chapter 11

A theory

"(:- I How did the drones even find out how to enter Ventara?!" Cerrul was currently standing in the kitchen of Len; former Kamen rider Wing Knight, and Cerrul's mentor. Len remained silent as he reached into his fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. Len then popped the cap off of the bottle, and took a prolonged sip, before he said, "I don't want to disappoint you Cerrul, but I don't have a definitive answer for that question." "{:- | Can you at least give me a theory I can work with?!" Len raised the bottle to his mouth and sipped the beverage thoughtfully for about a minute, before he said, "okay, I've got a theory… but I can't exactly guarantee you'll like it…" "|:- I Sigh… lay it on me…" "I think it's your fault." Cerrul immediately felt a huge wave of relief wash over him, as he said, "|:- D Wow, that's great, for a second there I thought it mi- wait, what?" Len finished taking another sip and said, "look, Cerrul, I don't want to point any fingers-" ":- [ Well that doesn't contradicts your last statement at all!" "let me finish. I remember Shellshock saying that when he dragged your butt out of the house and into Ventara, he saw the torso of a drone that had been cut in half. My guess is that when it got its head shoved into Ventara, it transmitted data back to it's creators that allowed them to find Ventara."

Cerrul stroked his chin thoughtfully, and said, "| :- T That actually makes sense. A lot, actually." "Look, Cerrul, I'm sorry if that wasn't the answer you wanted, but it's the best answer I've got." ":- | Oh no, it's fine. Got an answer to one question. That's really all, Master Len." Len shrugged and said, "Okay, off you go then, I guess." Cerrul shrugged with a sheepish grin as he raised his advent deck to the refrigerator, and said, "{:- ) I guess." Cerrul hesitated, and said, "{:- | hey, Master?" Len turned towards Cerrul, and said, "what?" "|:- | there's a question I've been meaning to ask you for a while, and I've never had the courage to ask, but… why did you stop being a Kamen Rider?" Len took another long sip out of the bottle, and said, "I stopped being a Kamen rider because I lost some friends. That's all I'll tell you for now." Cerrul nodded and said, ":- | see you later," before the advent deck pulled him into ventara.


	12. Chapter 12: Flying Solo

Chapter 12

Flying solo

As Max grunted as she hoisted a basket full of cleaning rags onto the red workbench. She then turned around to talk to Arlene, who was hard at work on a rocket pack. "You're sure that thing is going to be safe?"

Arlene stood up, and sluggishly stumbled over to the sol Armor, and said, "==}-Max, for the… I-don't-knowlianth time, yes! I'm as positive as a proton, which is to say;the speed-pursuit mode will not blow up in your face. I mean, if it were built by someone far less experienced than I am, then maybe your fears would be justified, but fortunately the are not.-{=="

Max shrugged off her uncertainty, and nodded. "Okay, whatever you say. So this is supposedly going to be one of a handful of large devices that just fall down onto me in battle, and instantly transform into something that will help me in a burning building, or a high speed chase?"

Arlene yawned sleepily, and said, "==}-Yeah, pretty much.-{=="

Max nodded slowly, and said, "And the way it does this is a complicated series of interdimensional vectors that should function based on a principle developed by a Kamen rider during the sengoku period and some other sciencey technobabble?!"

Arlene yawned again, drawing out her sentence. "==}-That is the… working theory.-{==" Arlene's voice faltered, and she ran back to her laptop she had placed on top of the blue workbench. "==}-But I guess a few more… simulations… couldn't…-{=="

Arlene's voice seemed to trail off into a yawn, and she slumped over slightly. "Y-you okay, Arle-?" Max was cut off by her own scream as Arlene collapsed onto the floor. "ARLENE!" Arlene hit the floor with a thud, and max rushed over to Arlene to help her. "POPPIE! ARLENE JUST FAINTED!" Poppie poked her head out of her lab, and whispered, "cOuld YOur screAms OF distress be A little mOre quiet?!"

Poppie grabbed a rag off of the red workbench, and spat into it She ran back over and wiped the areas under Arlene's eyes. A thick gray paste that matched the rest of Arlene's complexion came off, revealing that Arlene had extremely dark circles under her eyes. "Is she okay?" "==}-N-no guys, issfine! I'm shtilla fully funkshinul troll… oogah…-{==" "she'll be Fine, she just needs sOme sleep!" "==}-N-no I don't, watsh! I'll program in shirclsh round your ash!-{==" "i'mma GO upstAirs And put YOu in YOur recuperAcOOn." "==}-Soundsh good.-{=="

Poppie pointed at Max and said, "dOn't tOuch AnY OF this shit until AFter i put miss brAiniAc tO sleep, GOt it?" Max nodded, and Poppie immediately grabbed her older sister by the legs, and began to carry her in such a manner that made Arlene appear as though she was standing completely upright, and floating a across the room from about half a foot off of the ground. It was a genuinely amusing sight, and Max had to snort in order to restrain her laughter. Max glanced down at the Sol driver, and noted a gray smudge on the transformation switch. She grabbed the rag off of the table where Poppie had set it down and began to wipe the gray smudge off. Or, she tried to at least, before the switch clicked down, and she was immediately surrounded by a bright orange light. "K-K-KAMEN RIDER! SOL! KNIGHT OF LIGHT, AWAKEN!" When the world came back into focus, Max was inside of the new and improved armor.

Most of the new add-ons were painted pure white, and only broken up by the navy blue solar panels, and orange highlighting various panel lines. The sword was largely the same, with a longer blade, and solar panels a-plenty. Poppie appeared momentarily at the top of the stairs and said, "whAt did i tell YOu?!" "Sorry, Poppie. I was just trying to clean off the transformation switch." "OkAY, OkAY, nO reAsOn tO pAnic, just dOn't press AnYthinG el…" Poppie was almost immediately cut off by he pod that Arlene had built flying over to a position above Max's head before slamming down on top of her, and unfolding into a suit of armor with a jetpack, releasing a cloud of steam with a loud hiss.

When the steam cleared, Poppie yelled, "whAt did i just sAY, mAx?!" "I-i didn't do it this time, honest!" "Oh, i'm sure YOu didn't! i'm sure some mYsticAl henshin FAirY GOdmOther just cAme bY, wAved her wAnd, And cAused YOu tO "AcidentAllY" trAnsFOrm! i'm beinG **SUPER** seriOus here, she prObAblY just Flew Out the windOw!" An electronic voice came from the belt, "verbal command analyzed. Engaging flight mode." The rockets on Max's back fired off and lifted her into the air. "Oooooh, shit!" "lAnGuAGe!" "L-language…? LANGUAGE?! LOOK WHO'S TALKING!" "OkAY, just trY nOt tO ActivAte sOme kind OF super rOcket thrust mOde And GOddamnit, thAt's prObAblY GOinG tO hAppen nOw, isn't it…?" "Engaging high-octane thruster mode!"

The thrusters made a small squealing noise, before launching Max towards Poppie, up the stairs, and into the kitchen. Poppie ran after her, and muttered, "mY stupid, FuckinG mOuth!" Max screamed, "I'd make some kind of statement about how you need to watch what comes out of your, "verbal orifice," or whatever the hell you trolls call your mouths, but I'm a little preoccupied with NOT CRASHING MY ARMOR!" "hOld On!" Poppie ran over to the sliding glass door, and threw it open, allowing Max to fly out into to the sun-stained horizon… whatever the hell that means. Poppie meanwhile rolled her eyes at that… frankly bizarre, and poetic statement about the sky, and ran back into the house.

As Max continued to scream, the sky around her began to darken in hue, until it was navy blue. That is when she realized she was outside of earth's gravitational field, and swiftly making her way towards the surface of the moon. A few seconds later, she was on the other side of the moon with a conveniently kamen rider sol-shaped hole running straight through it. Max looked over her shoulder, and said, "god, I hope that doesn't fuck with any future solar eclipses!"

As Max turned around she was met with a massive armada of alien war ships that she assumed were not here to make friends with her. The jet engines brought her to a stop as a hologram appeared on top of one of the ships, and a green skinned individual appeared. She placed her hand up to her throat and seemed to clear it before engaging in what is best described as full-body sign language.

This started out as the green skinned woman first making a butterfly shadow puppet, before then doing gangnam style, and then placing her fingers to her head, and wiggling them like a pair of ant antenna.

Max shrugged her shoulders, and said, "what?!" Not that anyone heard her, because she was in space, and to quote alien, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM! The green skinned woman then began to perform a dance where the pumped her arms up and down in front of her whilst kicking a leg out to the side, lowering it, and doing the same with the other leg. This time, yellow subtitles appeared at the bottom of the screen that read, "WHO FORGOT THE SUBTITLES THIS TIME?! NUMBER MORON?!"

Max glanced around and said, "What the fuck is going on?!"

The green skinned woman immediately fell onto the floor, and began flopping around like a dying fish, as the subtitles read, "Ah, greetings, Kamen rider Sol. I am Amberica, and I am currently hacking your systems audio feed. However, since the hacking is only one way, I am afraid I am forced to use standard intergalactic sign language."

Max tilted her head slightly and said, "is that why you're charades have subtitles?" Amberica immediately performed a silly dance where she jogged in place while swinging her arms from side to side. The subtitles read, "pardon me, but I wasn't the bloke who decided it would be a good idea to make the standard intergalactic sign language consist of dance moves from fortnite!"

She then immediately beckoned several drones over to her side, and formed a human pyramid, with her making up the bottom left corner of the pyramid. The subtitles now read, "drop your panties, sir william! I can not wait till lunch time!"

Max's expression changed to a mix of confusion and shock, as she said, "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" Amberica swapped places with the drone on top, and said, "God damn it! Google translate is being fucked around with again!" She then returned to her place on the bottom, and the subtitles now read, "Great boobies, honey bun! My lower intestine is full with spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, and spam!" Amberica's eyes widened with a mix of shock and exasperation, and she immediately broke out of human pyramid, causing it to tumble over, and the subtitles now read, "Wi not trei a holiday in sweeden this yer? You can see all the lovli lakes, the gorgeous telephone system, and mani small animals."

Amberica then reached off camera, and pulled in a purple troll, and a massive white parrot. She then began yelling at the two, and the subtitles read, "I'm dreaming of a white christmas."

The troll crossed her arms across her body diagonally, and the subtitles now read, "Get back here, you slimy futon plunderer!" Amberica rolled her eyes, and the subtitles read, "We're no strangers to loooove, you know the rules, and so do I!" Amberica turned back to the camera and began to perform jumping jacks. The subtitles now read, "sorry about the technical difficulties. The drones running the translation algorithm are all currently working through a few kinks in the code. Anyways, I'm going to skip ahead in my dramatic speech to the point after where I've offered you a chance to join us, or die with the rest of your planet at the hands of our spaceship that can turn into a giant robot. And I'm going to guess you don't surrender?"

Max shrugged. "Eh, where's the fun in surrendering?" Amberica now flipped max the bird with both hands, and the subtitles said, "You can call me the Nannerpuss, and VERY WELL, YOU HAVE MADE YOUR CHOICE, CRIMINAL TWINKY! PREPARE TO DIE!"

A squad of drones immediately dispatched from the ship, and fired at Max. Max proceeded to press the melee button, and her sword appeared. "Hope you boys brought your life jackets, 'cause it's about to get choppy!"


	13. Chapter 13:Sol Survivor

Chapter 13

Sol survivor

"==}-Max?! MAX?!-{==" Max snapped awake, on top of a hospital bed, with Arlene and Poppie sitting next to her. "Ugh… my head… what happened?" Another troll entered the room, this one was holding a clipboard in her right hand, and a pen in her left. She was dressed in a white lab coat with a dark red symbol printed on the pocket of the lab coat, black pants, dark red shirt, with a pair of mechanics goggles on top of her head. "hellO dOctOr hOutek!" "Hello, Poppie…-_-" She turned to look at Max. "I see your finally awake, Max.-_-" "Yeah, what the hell happened. Either that battle with the drones ended with one hell of a victory party, or I lost… mind helping me remember?" "well… YOu didn't win exActlY… but At the sAme time, YOu didn't reAllY lOse either." "What do you mean? Come to think of it, what happened?! The last thing I remember was charging some drones, and then boarding the spaceship!" "==}-I remember what happened… Kamen rider Arachne broadcasted it for us all to see… the two of you fought for what seemed like hours, as we were all forced to watch the fight… a fight that had no definite victor.-{=="

Max nodded and tried to get out of the bed, only to have doctor Houtek push her back… "Max, I regret to inform you that you won't be getting out of bed for a while.-_-" "W-why?" "look at your legs. Or, rather, lack there of…-_-" Max lifted the covers to see that, indeed, both of her legs were missing! "W-what happened?" "thAt's whAt everYOne is still trYinG tO Find Out… YOur FiGht bAsicAllY ended with sOmethinG destrOYinG the Fleet oF ships thAt were cOminG tO eArth." "And how long have I been out for?" "==}-It's been about 10 days since the battle and a week since some people found you floating in the middle of lake michigan… you were in a coma, mumbling something about machine men, and how they were already here among us.-{=="

"Now then, Miss Matthews, despite the injuries sustained in your fight, you're body has healed rather quickly, and you'll be let out of the hospital later today, though you'll be in a wheelchair for the next week and a half. You should avoid doing any more Kamen Rider-ing until you've gone through physical therapy, and received new prosthetics to replace the absent half of your limbs.-_-" Max's eyes widened, "b-but-" "No buts, I'm afraid…-_-" Max sighed. "I understand, doctor Houtek." "Good. I'll be back with a wheelchair shortly.-_-" As doctor Houtek left the room, Arlene turned to Poppie and said, "==}-Would you give us a moment alone?-{==" "sure, sis. GO riGht AheAd." Poppie got out of her chair and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

Arlene was looking down at her lap, with her hair obscuring her eyes. Max tried to speak, "Arlene, I-" Arlene interrupted her, "==}-Max… I made a mistake…-{==" Max shrugged nonchalantly, "everyone makes mistakes." Arlene shook her head, as drops of some dark yellow fluid ran down the side of her face. "==}-No, max… I forced you to use the sol driver… I should have been the one who was putting myself in harms way…-{=="

Max's smiled faded, and she said, "A-arlene, I-" Arlene's tone changed from sadness to anger, as she said, "==}-I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen ever again… I'll protect the world by myself, so they'll never hurt you again…-{==" Max reached her hand out to comfort Arlene, "l-look, Arlene, what happened to me wasn't your fault-" "==}-It was, Max. The Sol driver… it was destroyed in your battle with Arachne. They found you stuck in the armor… You nearly died because of me. Well, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again…-{==" "Oh, please, this is hardly your faul-" "==}-DON'T LIE TO ME! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT, AND YOU KNOW IT!-{==" "Arlene! Calm down! You're acting irrational!"

Arlene looked up at Max, with tear streaming down her face. Before she got up, and walked towards the door. "==}-I'll go get the car…-{==" And left the room. Poppie entered momentarilly, carrying a bottle of soda in each hand. "heY, mAx. i'm sOrrY iF Arlene seems A bit… mOOdY…" "Irrational is a better description, but, moody works too…" "YeAh…" Poppie handed Max one of the sodas. "Thanks, Poppie." "dOn't mentiOn it…" Poppie opened her bottle as she took a seat next to Max. The two of them just sat there, quietly sipping their soft drinks for a few minutes.

"... i'm sOrry, mAx…" "Hey, if it's for the watermelon disemboweling chamber thing, totally forgiven." "he-he-he, iF OnlY it were thAt. I ActuAllY wAnted tO i'm sOrrY FOr beinG A bit… pricklY, when we First met… i-it's just thAt…" Poppie's voice seemed to fade. "What?" Poppie took another sip out of the bottle before she said, "cAn i tell YOu A stOrY?" "Sure." "Arlene And i cOme FrOm AlterniA. the plAnet is run On A blOOd-bAsed caste system, with purples beinG the hiGhest ranked in the system…" "So, you'd be like some kind of celebrity back home?" Poppie's tone changed from one of fond reminiscing to a tone that reflected the painful memories she was recalling. "nO. mY clAss, the purple blOOd Are meAnt to becOme chucklevOOdOOs… and we essentiAllY use magic to afflict people with nightmAres… but… i didn't wAnt AnY pArt OF it… peOple i knew As Grubs chAnGed, theY were all nice people, but they all let their pOwer GO tO their heAds… theY FOrced Lusii to teAr eAch Other ApArt for sport. i tried tO speAk Out, but nobody listened… i becAme An OutcAst… AlOne. until Arlene shOwed up On my doorstep One dAY, And well, the rest, As theY sAY, is histOrY… but, when you AppeAred, i thOuGht YOu'd tAke mY sister AwAY…" Poppie's voice trailed off slightly, as she took another sip of the soft drink. "sOrrY, i knOw it sOunds kind OF pettY." Max shook her head, "No, I understand. Though, I am honestly concerned for your sister right now…" Poppie Nodded. "YeAh, thOuGh, nOt much AbOut her hAs chAnGed, iF YOu cAn believe it… Arlene's… OkAY, there's nO wAY i cAn sOFten this, she's A wOrkAhOlic."

Max rolled her eyes as Poppies resumed drinking, and spoke in a faux-british accident, "truthfully, a startling revelation, Miss Raizer!" Poppie snorted, clearly trying to restrain a laugh, but instead ejecting the contents of the plastic bottle out through her nostrils and onto her hoodie. "Y-you okay, Poppie?" Poppie grinned as she turned to look at Max, and replied in her own faux-british accent. "sArcAsm is unbecOminG OF YOu." Max laughed, and said, "you know, this is probably the most smiling I've seen you do since we met!" Poppie shrugged, and said, "I guess, but getting back to the subject of Arlene, I think the reason she's acting like this is because she thought that her tech was unbeatable… but now… it really isn't."

Max sighed, and looked down at her soft drink, before taking another sip. "So, what now?" Poppie looked up at Max with a puzzled look on her face. "whAt dO YOu meAn?" "I'm not going to be able to protect the world now. And I'm not sure if Cerrul and Xander will be able to protect the world by themselves." Poppie sat there for a moment, thinking silently, before she said, "I hAve An ideA, but YOu hAve tO keep it A secret FrOm Arlene." Before Poppie could share the details, she was interrupted by the door opening, and doctor Houtek walking in, followed by her assistant, who was pushing a wheelchair. "Sorry that took me so long, my assistant accidentally read the room number on the sheet upside-down… apparently…-_-" Her assistant was a troll in white lab coat, with buck teeth, messy hair, and a green undershirt.

A few moments later, Doctor Houtek and her assistant brought max down to the parking lot, where Arlene was waiting for them. The car ride back to their home was silent, as all of them were wondering, who would protect the earth now…?


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue

Kamen Rider Axiom

5 days later…

Arlene sat at her work bench, fussing around with a bunch of parts, when she heard someone knocking on the door. "==}-Who is it?-{==" Poppie's voice came from the other side, "it's me, sis! i hAve dinner." Arlene stretched out her arms above her head, before she walked over to the door, and opened it, grabbed the plate, before closing the door, and walking back down to her bench. She held up the sheet with the blueprints, and the driver along side it. It was almost ready… It just needed her to insert the final components:four modular devices. With their power, she would become the new hero that would protect the earth… Kamen rider Axiom.

To be continued… IN KAMEN RIDER AXIOM!


End file.
